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X-Men: The Last Stand/Trivia
Trivia for X-Men: The Last Stand. *Story elements in X-Men: The Last Stand were loosely adapted from various storylines featured in X-Men comic series. **Jean Grey emerging from a body of water after her supposed death is a homage to X-Men Vol. 1 #101, a story titled "Like a Phoenix, from the Ashes". This issue also commences the start of the "Phoenix Saga", which ran through issues #101-108 of X-Men Vol. 1. **Phoenix being the corrupted psyche of Jean Grey is adapted from the "Dark Phoenix Saga", a story arc that ran through issues #129-138 of X-Men Vol. 1. **The development of a mutant cure is adapted from "Gifted", a story arc that ran through issues #1-6 of Astonishing X-Men Vol. 3. *Philippe Rousselot was hired as cinematographer by Matthew Vaughn, and initially stayed on when Brett Ratner took over as director. Not long into shooting, however, Rousselot quit the project (later saying that signing on to shoot the film was the biggest blunder he'd ever made). Dante Spinotti, the cinematographer on Ratner's previous two films, was available, and he took over for most of the remaining filming. He had to leave about a week before the end of shooting as he was committed to working on The Contract, and so J. Michael Muro was hired for the remainder of shooting. *In Dr McCoy's first scene, he is seen reading an issue of the "Scientific American" magazine, which features as its cover story "Tracking Mutations". The issue is an existing one, which was released in October 2005. *Angel's wings were initially too heavy for Ben Foster, and were remade from foam. *Halle Berry had initially decided not to reprise her role as Storm for this film, citing lack of character development in the previous two installments and a tense relationship with director Bryan Singer. However, after Singer's departure and suffering a major box-office flop with Catwoman, Berry agreed to return on the condition that her role be expanded. Consequently, in this film Storm replaces Cyclops and Professor Xavier as team leader of the X-Men (which is keeping with the comics, where for a time Storm served as team leader in Xavier's absence). *With the appearance of Beast (though he was in the previous film) and Angel, the original X-Men team that were formed in 1963 (Professor X, Cyclops, Phoenix, Beast, Iceman, Angel) now fully appear in this film, though not all together. *When Bryan Singer was going to direct, he and his writers Dan Harris-Michael Dougherty wrote a treatment solely based on the "X-Men" storyline 'The Dark Phoenix Saga': the deceased Jean Gray returns, with a new, more destructive personality called the Phoenix. She would be manipulated into joining the Hellfire Club, by their telepathic leader Emma Frost (Sigourne Weaver was intended for the role). A three-way battle occurs between the Club who want to take over the world, the X-Men who want to save their comrade, and Magneto's Brotherhood who want the Phoenix for their own plans. At the end, to save everyone Jean kills herself, but her spirit lives on and transcends into a divine being, which Dougherty compared to the star child in 2001: A Space Odyssey. *The characters Phat and Spike (both from the X-Statix comic book) make cameo appearances. *Cain Marko's line "Don't you know who I am? I'm the Juggernaut, bitch" was inspired by a popular web parody film that made use of scenes from X-Men. Throughout the parody , the Juggernaut character repeatedly says, "I'm the Juggernaut, bitch." According to the Wikipedia, Brett Ratner even has a link to this parody on his own website. (Whether or not the parody itself was inspired by a mis-heard line from an old X-Men video game is irrelevant to film's usage of this line, since it's clearly an homage to the web parody). *Summer Glau auditioned for the role of Kitty Pryde. She looked to Joss Whedon, who gave her a part in Firefly and Serenity, for advice because she knew he was a big "X-Men" fan, unaware that he had written issues of "Astonishing X-Men" for Marvel, most prominently the 'Gifted' storyline about the mutant cure. Her audition script turned out to be pages from Whedon's "Astonishing X-Men" #5. *For the opening flashback, the VFXperts created a special program that enabled "digital skin-grafting": with the use of old photos of Patrick_Stewart and Ian McKellen, complex keyframing (dissolving an image into another image, i.e. old actors into younger-looking versions) was applied to the scene to digitally make them appear 20 years younger. *The number on Jean's mail box is 1769. *Jed Bernard and Nick Stahl were considered for the role of Warren Worthington III/Angel. Mike Vogel was originally cast, but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with Poseidon, and finally Ben Foster took the role. *According to VFX supervisor John Bruno, about $35 million (a sixth of the film's budget) was spent on the Golden Gate sequence. This included constructing a full-scale section of the bridge that was about the size of a basketball court (94 feet), and then using computer-generated imagery on the rest of the Bridge and its background. *The mutant Callisto in this film is a combination of her comic version (leader of a gang of mutants) and the mutant Caliban (the ability to sense other mutants). *The Danger Room facility was going to appear in the previous X-Films, but was written out due to budgetary concerns. It finally appears in this film. *The character Leech appears in the comic as a small green boy, rather than a normal looking human child. *The sequence where Magneto rips the end of the Golden Gate Bridge and moves it towards Alcatraz was based on "New X-Men" #147, where he did the same with the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. *The Danger Room sequence presents the scenario of a war-torn world filled with mutant-hunting robots (known in the film as Sentinels). This scenario is a homage to the "X-Men" storyline 'Days of Future Past', which featured time-travel and a future that was similar to what the Danger Room presented. *A reflective form-fitting bodysuit was created for Daniel Cudmore to wear as Colossus. This was considered a cheaper move rather than animating Colossus's ability in CGI, as seen in the previous film. *The maneuver where Colossus grabs Wolverine and throws him at something (spinning around a few times to gain momentum) is known as the Fastball Special and is an iconic move in the "X-Men" saga. The Fastball Special in this film is based on John Cassaday's "Amazing X-Men" #6. *The Juggernaut in this film is based on his appearance in the "Ultimate X-Men" comics (in that series he is a natural mutant, while in the original Marvel comics he got his ability from a mystical jewel). *Cyclops' sunglasses are modified Oakley's "Penny" model, a limited edition sunglass, with a custom tint created specifically for the film. Also, Hank McCoy wears Oakley "Why 3" glasses specially made to fit his character. *When director Bryan Singer dropped out of production, Hugh Jackman recommended Darren Aronofsky to replace him, having worked with Aronofsky in The Fountain. Joss Whedon turned it down to work on a "Wonder Woman" movie (ironically his "X-Men" comic 'Gifted' would inspire the final film's plot). 'Rob Bowman' and Alex Proyas were considered for the job. Zack Snyder was approached, but he was committed to 300; Peter Berg was approached, but turned down the job. Matthew Vaughn was hired in March 2005, but with a release date set of May 2006, he realized he could not put together a good film in such a short time and left. Finally Brett Ratner was hired, who had experience of making successful films out of rushed productions, as seen with Rush Hour. *Maggie Grace was originally cast as Kitty Pryde, but the filmmakers discovered she was too old for the role. *According to writer Simon Kinberg, the film's plot is inspired from the "X-Men" storylines 'The Dark Phoenix Saga' (the appearance of the Phoenix) and 'Gifted' (the development of a cure for the mutant gene, sparking controversy and conflict among mutants and humans). The 'Phoenix' story represented the main/emotional theme of the film and the 'Gifted' story would be the political subplot. *Bryan Singer was in the middle of a three-picture deal made with Fox beginning with X2, and keen to make X-Men 3, but he and Fox were unable to come to terms. During this time, Warner offered him the chance to direct Superman Returns immediately. Singer informed Fox that he was going to take this opportunity and would still like to return to direct X-Men 3. As the consequence, his deal was terminated and Matthew Vaughn briefly joined the production before he backed out. Brett Ratner was the finalist for the director's role for the first X-Men movie, having experience of making a successful film out of a rushed production with Rush Hour. *Both Rebecca Romijn (Mystique) and James Marsden's (Cyclops) roles were reduced substantially when the film was rushed into production and the two cast members had prior scheduling conflicts. *Brett Ratner cast Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde after seeing Page in Hard Candy. She initially turned down the role, but after Ratner personally called her with the script, she agreed to do the role. *Many of the actors performed their own stunts in the film. *In this film, Bolivar Trask is Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security. In the comics, he was a scientist-agent responsible for creating the Sentinel robots. *Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, and Vinnie Jones starred together in Swordfish. *The film has the biggest Memorial Day box-office opening ever, until the record was beaten by Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End in 2007. *For her dual role as Jean Grey/Phoenix, Famke Janssen extensively researched dissociative identity disorders and split personalities to make her performance convincing. *Matthew Vaughn was hired in March 2005. Vaughn cast Kelsey Grammer as Beast (Dr. Hank McCoy) and Vinnie Jones as Juggernaut (Cain Marko), and also conceptualized several scenes for the film. He got no farther, however, because family issues forced him to drop out of filming. Vaughn was also cautious of Fox wanting to rush production: "I didn't have the time to make the movie I wanted to make. I had a vision for how it should be, and I wanted to make sure I was making a film as good as X2, and I knew there was no way that could be." Vaughn's ideas and casting of Grammer and Jones stayed in the final film though. *Actress Beverley Mahood was considered for the role of Dazzler, a mutant with the ability to control any form of light. The role was later dropped when Bryan Singer left the production. *This is one of the first movies to feature the army combat uniform, when the soldiers switched to it from their woodland BDUs to guard the Alcatraz facility. *In Angel's first scene, Dr. Rao opens a case containing the cure, on which is the code XM89248. Comic book artist Jim Lee's first ever work was on "Uncanny X-Men" #248 (1989). *The number tattooed on Magneto's arm is 214782. This identifies him as a survivor of the Auschwitz-Birkenau complex of Nazi concentration camps. *In a June 2009 interview, Bryan Singer admitted that he regretted declining to direct this film in favor of Superman Returns, confessing that he realized his mistake "before I was watching the third X-Men film, during watching it, after watching it." *The house used for Professor Charles Xavier school is the same house used on Poltergeist: The Legacy TV series. *The Worthington Labs building in San Francisco Bay (where Angel breaks free and flies off) is actually the Sheraton Hotel Wall Centre in Vancouver, Canada. In a remarkable coincidence, it is just across the street from St. Andrew's Wesley Church, the same church where Jean and Storm find Nightcrawler in X2. *Ben Foster, who plays the winged mutant Angel, is actually scared of heights. *Kid Omega's portrayal in this film (an anti-human mutant, the leader of a gang of mutants) is also based on the mutant Quill (a mutant who shoots barbs from his body). *Throughout the film Storm and Callisto are constantly battling. In the comics, Storm and Callisto battled for leadership of Callisto's gang the Morlocks. *The automobile Professor Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr use in the beginning is a Mercedes Benz S-Class. *The whirlwind wire-stunts performed by Halle Berry made her so nauseated that she vomited in one scene, and the crew had to bring in buckets for her before shooting her fight scenes. *In 1996 Brett Ratner was a candidate to direct X-Men. He directed this threequel ten years later. *In the comics, the Phoenix wore a green/gold outfit; in this film, the Phoenix is dressed in a red dress from the time she appears in Jean Gray's home. The red dress is a homage to the Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff, Magneto's daughter), a mentally unstable superhuman with near-ultimate powers. *Sabana Azmi and Tabu were considered for the role of Dr. Kavita Rao. *The Golden Gate Bridge sequence was originally in the middle of the film, but Brett Ratner decided it would create a more dramatic climax if moved to the end. *Brett Ratner invited composer John Powel to score the music for this film, being a fan of Powell's work on The Bourne Identity. *Composer John Powell used lyrics from Benjamin Britten's "Requiem Mass" for the choral parts of the music. *The mutant Nightcrawler was going to make a cameo appearance in the film; Alan Cumming, who'd played Nightcrawler in X2, was going to reprise the role, despite his discomfort with the prosthetic makeup he had to wear for his role. The cameo was so short, however, that the filmmakers felt the long and costly makeup process was not worthwhile, so he was omitted from the film - the video game X-Men: The Official Game mentions that Nightcrawler joined the X-Men, but left because he didn't appreciate their life of action and violence. *The mutant Kitty Pryde was named after an actual person, a former classmate of "X-Men" writer John Byrne. Upon the release of X-Men, reporters tracked down Pryde in Calgary to interview her about the film (she has now changed her name to K.D. Pryde, and states that she appreciates the comics, but wishes to be known as more than just a heroine's namesake). The comic-book Pryde appears in all three X-Films, but is played by different actresses (Sumela Kay, Katie Stuart, Ellen Page) and only has a major role in X-Men: The Last Stand. *The popular mutant Gambit was going to appear in the film and would have been a love interest of Rogue and a rival for Iceman, similar to how Kitty Pryde was Rogue's rival for Iceman's affections. However, Fox was developing X-Men Origins: Wolverine and stipulated that no mutant could appear in both X-Films, and so Gambit was removed from the script. Channing Tatum was in the running for the role before it was removed. *The last scenes of Magneto and Professor X (Magneto discovers the return of his powers, Professor X reveals his survival) were not in the script, and were secretly filmed. Sirs Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart admitted even they didn't know whether their scenes would be in the final film or not. *The last scene in the film was to have Magneto regaining his abilities as he plays chess with a stranger (who he discovers is Professor Xavier, in another man's body). Neither were available for filming their scenes together, so instead two separate scenes for the two were filmed, bookending the credits. *Body count: 56 *The design of Cyclops and Jean Grey's tombstones is taken from the "X-Men" storyline 'Days of Future Past', where the X-Men's gravestones were in a similar deco (The X symbol with the member name below). *The death of Cyclops (James Marsden) was based on Marsden's availability (he had decided to film Bryan Singer's Superman Returns). The studio considered killing him off-screen with a dialogue reference, but Simon Kinberg and Zak Penn insisted that Jean be seen killing him, to emphasize their relationship. *The filmmakers intended the death of Professor Xavier to be a dramatic turning point. Simon Kinberg and Zak Penn were initially cautious of killing Xavier, but grew to like the idea, saying it paralleled Spock's sacrifice in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan. To keep Xavier still in the X-Films, though, they wrote the post-credits scene where Dr. MacTaggert discovers Xavier in another man's body. *Fox Studio heads Tom Rothman and James Gianopulos debated on Rogue's final scenes: since she took the cure, Rothman wanted her to passionately kiss Bobby Drake and Gianopulos wanted her to simply hold his hand. The two executives screened the film for their daughters and the studio's female marketing executives, and the hand-holding prevailed: Gianopulos stated that the kissing "was all about sex, and they didn't want that." *Magneto ending up a normal human and Wolverine's snide comment ("I'm..." "One of them?") is a tribute to the "X-Men" storyline 'House of M', which ended with Magneto rendered human with Wolverine stating he deserves "every second of his crap sapien life." References Category:Trivia Category:X-Men: The Last Stand